We have been talking to RAN since 2007. Recently RAN made a number of allegations about our operations and we refuted each of them. Even other parties have told RAN that their allegations are unfounded.

Today, we are issuing a public invitation to RAN to share their concerns directly with the third-party auditor who is reviewing our Harapan operations for RSPO certification.

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding our announcement about the Cargill-WWF supplier assessment program and acknowledging it as a good step towards achieving Cargill’s palm oil supply chain accountability.

I am writing to again encourage RAN to comment directly into the RSPO certification process that Cargill is undergoing for our HSL plantation.

As RAN knows, RSPO certification requires a two-stage auditing process -- A pre-assessment followed by a final certification audit. The Cargill Harapan (HSL) location, including all local legal entities such as ISK and smallholder production, will go through formal pre-assessment in August. The final certification audit date will depend on the time needed to finalize any outstanding matters identified in the pre-assessment.

We welcome input from all stakeholders in this process. All stakeholder comments can be submitted to the certification body doing the audit:

The RSPO certification process also requires public announcement one month prior to commencement of the final certification audit for the purpose of soliciting input from all stakeholders.

We invite and encourage RAN to submit any concerns, along with any evidence, directly to BSI. We ask RAN to be as specific as possible to facilitate BSI’s ease in sorting through and assessing each and every issue.

Additionally, to clarify understanding per your inquiry, Cargill’s HSL/ISK plantation will not be included as part of the WWF assessment process that we just announced. The WWF previously reviewed these lands as a result of a degraded lands study they completed in March 2009, of which I informed RAN in our meeting in your offices in San Francisco in October 2009. Cargill’s plantations, however, were used as beta tests for the survey document, developed in collaboration with WWF, for our soon-to-be-launched supplier assessment program.

I hope this addresses your further concerns about our accountability and transparency in our actions. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have further questions.